Jiang Li truly wanted to laugh. When had he ever practiced the demonic path?
The demonic path was a prime target for prohibition by the Imperial Palace. Anyone who dared to practice it should be ready to confront the entire cultivation world.
There were dozens of paths to becoming immortal, ranging from cultivating the body, using magician insects, Qi cultivation, and rune path methods, but one specific path was strictly forbidden in the cultivation world.
That was the individual ascendancy of the demonic path.
The demonic path is without taboo and stops at nothing. It reinforces one person by exploiting the masses. The countless deaths of others matter not, as long as one's survival and strength are guaranteed.
Upon reaching the path of ascension, the Nine Zones continent did not reject the demonic path, because even if practiced to the end, it would result in ascension, within the acceptable limits of the Nine Zones continent. However, after the ability to ascend was cut off, practitioners of the demonic path planned to blood sacrifice the Nine Zones to create an immortal, perhaps achieving ascension and inciting massive bloodshed that decimated entire dynasties.
Due to this, the Nine Zones continent practitioners concurred on an unwritten agreement, whoever practiced the demonic path was executed without fail.
"Are you not surprised?"
"Without concrete evidence, there's naturally no reason to be startled."
"The number of infants stolen by the Jiang family has exceeded hundreds. What could the Jiang family possibly do with so many infants? They must be performing blood rituals on the infants! They are replacing form with form, assisting others to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. This is pure demonic methods. Could the Human Emperor not be aware of this?"
"With the Human Emperor's means, assisting others to reach the Nascent Soul stage is simple. However, he didn't prevent the Jiangs from using demonic techniques. This implies he's not merely indulging them but is himself a practitioner of the demonic path. Only a practitioner of the demonic path would forsake other legitimate methods of achieving the Nascent Soul stage and allow their family to use extreme demonic methods!"
"Elder Zhang, if my conjecture is true, the current Human Emperor is a practitioner of the demonic path. The Nine Zones continent would then be in peril! Elder Zhang, please convey this matter to your Sect Master!"
As Yuan Wuxing finished speaking, he tried to kneel to beg Jiang Li but found himself seemingly being pulled back by a strong hand, unable to kneel down.
"Elder Zhang..."
Yuan Wuxing wanted to say something more but saw Jiang Li gloomily rise and exit the room.
Jiang Li's aura was quite intimidating, seeming on the brink of anger. Yuan Wuxing swallowed his saliva, refraining from speaking further.
No matter how much Yuan Wuxing tried to discredit the Human Emperor with accusations like him secretly helping the Jiangs or secretly cultivating the demonic path, Jiang Li would simply laugh it off, not caring. He would take it in stride, knowing well he hadn't committed such deeds.
However, Yuan Wuxing's conjecture about the Jiangs performing blood rituals on infants was different, as Jiang Li knew this could very likely be true!
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why the Jiangs needed so many infants!
The Imperial Palace was the top force of the Nine Zones Continent against the practice of the demonic path, yet the Jiangs were potentially cultivating the demonic path under his name!
Jiang Li's anger was uncontrollable. His divine sense spread hundreds of miles from his body, covering several city conditions, including Qingcheng, yet he found nothing.
Not discovering anything was a problem in itself.
He did not find any signs of infant blood sacrifices, nor did he spot any missing infants.
Jiang Li specifically used his divine sense to scan the Jiang's mansion. The Jiangs were carrying out their ancestral worship as usual, without any changes, and there were no secret basements or passages.
Under these circumstances, either everything Yuan Wuxing said was false, or someone had hidden infants in another dimension.
There were two ways to use space in the Nine Zones continent. One way was to use the Storage Ring as a medium to enter the space at any time, but this space could not accommodate living things. The other was to find a space node. This space node was immobile, but it could accommodate living things. Secret territories operated on this principle.
The location of the space node was extremely covert. Unless space was entered or exited, it was impossible to detect it from the outside.
"Do you have any definitive evidence for these matters you've discussed? For example, have you used a visual orb to record the conversation between the Jiang's family head and the City Lord?"
Seeing Jiang Li re-enter the room again, Yuan Wuxing noticed his expression was as calm as before, lacking any previous gloominess.
"No, using a visual orb at that time would have caused a mana fluctuation, which couldn't have been hidden from the Nascent Soul Stage City Lord. As for other evidence... there is none."
Yuan Wuxing appeared rather disappointed at this admission but immediately added: "The frequency of the Jiangs' ancestral rituals matches that of the missing infants. I speculate that the Jiangs might be merely performing the ancestral rituals on the surface while actually performing blood sacrifices on infants. However, their precautionary measures during the ancestral rituals are excessively strict, and have been unsuccessful in my attempts to infiltrate over the years."
"At this moment, the Jiangs are performing ancestral rituals. You can perhaps try..."
Jiang Li shook his head: "I've already visited the Jiangs and found nothing unusual... Oh?"
Jiang Li's mouth curled up slightly in a sneering smile.
"Speak of the devil, and he appears."
Jiang Li's divine sense hadn't been withdrawn all this time, maintaining its surveillance within a hundred-mile radius.
...
On the outskirts of Qingcheng, under a large tree, the space distorted as an elderly man appeared in worn-out robes.
The elderly man in worn-out robes carefully observed his surroundings. After confirming that no one was around, he rose into the air and flew towards the Jiang family shrine.
...
Jiang Li did not follow the elderly man in worn-out robes to the Jiangs but dragged Yuan Wuxing to the space node on the outskirts of Qingcheng.
With a gentle touch, the space formed ripples, eventually stabilizing into a space portal.
This space was small, only the size of a cave. Upon entering, a pungent smell of blood assaulted them, causing Yuan Wuxing to cough.
After Yuan Wuxing adjusted to the blood stench, he was horrified by the scene before him.
Hundreds of skeletons shorter than a forearm were piled on both sides of the cave, carelessly thrown aside. Skulls were decoupled from the spine, and hands and legs were separated from the torso, creating a chaotic scene.
At the end of the path was a blood-stained altar. On the altar lay dozens of infant corpses. Traces of blood slowly spread into the air from these remains, and the flesh visibly disappeared, contributing to the intense stench of blood. Shortly, one could even see the white bones at the fingertips.
Yuan Wuxing could not hold back. He stumbled to the wall, bracing himself as he began to retch uncontrollably. However, he didn't brace himself well against the wall and slipped, falling into the pile of bones.
He lacked the strength to stand up and continued to lie in the pile of bones, throwing up and crying simultaneously, "Beasts! These Jiang beasts! How could they bear to do this? Don't they have children?"
Jiang Li's body was slightly trembling. He had participated in numerous operations to eliminate the demonic path and seen scenes more hateful and disgusting than this one. Still, when faced with such a sight again, he couldn't contain his emotions.
Between gritted teeth, he spat out a few words, "Bastard."
Jiang Li did not follow the man in yellow robes knowing that the man wouldn't be able to escape. His objective in coming here was to see if there was any possibility of rescuing anyone.
But now it seemed not a single one could be rescued.
The soothing Rebirth Mantra echoed through the tiny space. Initially, the chant was soft and hurried, with unclear content. However, as Jiang Li's anger surged, it grew louder and clearer.
The final syllables caused the space to start trembling. Stones fell, making it seem as though a collapse was imminent.
"Zhang... Elder Zhang."
Yuan Wuxing stared dumbstruck at the enraged Jiang Li.
Causing the space to tremble to the point of fragmentation with just his voice was clearly something beyond the ability of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.
Jiang Li turned his head to look at Yuan Wuxing, whose eye sockets were red. He bared his teeth in a chilling smile and said, "Let's pay a visit to the Jiangs."